HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR GARYDEAN26! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! Those are GREAT gifts!
GaryDean26, Wow, Happy Birthday! I'm amazed by you!! I'm late getting started today as I fret over chicks. Fun to do new things! Ok, my beginner questions. When should I move yesterday's babies to a separate space? I have only purchased chicks or had them shipped, so the next step I can do. Is it OK to move out leftover shells? Prior to pipping I moved a small group of eggs (line A) to a borrowed still air incubator. They were started humidity in a fan circulated hovabator. Is this OK or will they dry out to much? One has hatched. Two have pipped, started to cut their seam, but seem unfinished. Do they often wait for several hours or are they running out of steam? I don't want to rescue if they aren't meant to be or doing what they need to do, but if I screwed something up, I'd like to "help".
1) The rule of thumb is to NOT open the incubator to remove shell or chicks on hatch day. Lately I haven't been opening the incubator until the morning of day 22 even though I get early pippers on day 20 and everyone is usually out n day 21. 2) Chicks can be moved the brooder as soon as they dry off and are fuzzy. Don't move them while other eggs are still hatching though. 3) Yes I think the eggs in the still air incubator will be just fine. You can aways siphon more water into the incubator through a straw in the vents if you need to raise the humidity though. 4) I give them 24 hours from the first pip before I rescue. My early pippers tend to take longer to complete the process than those that start later in the day. Some can complete the task in 30 minutes others take 12 hours. I wouldn't worry since one has already made it out. Conditions are probablly good. If no progress is made for more than about 12 hours then try to increase humidity.
Ok, today's question. What color of eggs do your CL produce? Seems like I've heard, blue or shades of blue/green (white?). What colors are seen in UK? What do we prefer? Would excluding a color, for example, olive, which is in the UK breed standard impact the breed, it's past history, or future legacy? If you have thoughts on this topic or others on the look and type for CL please, jump on over to: Cheers!
When we hatched our breda. We had some that popped vigorously from their shell and some that took a long time. One had a partial zip and then stopped trying. We could see that she was breathing. When it appeared that no more were going to pip, we helped her out of the shell after 2 days of just watching. She did just fine and is one of our favorite pullets.
